India has raised the issue of forced conversion of Pakistani Hindus and growing crime against them with Islamabad, government sources told Headlines Today on Tuesday.

The development comes a day after the issue was raised by the biggest opposition party, BJP, in the Lok Sabha on Monday even as several Hindu families arrived in India in three batches. Sources said that India has lodged a protest and demanded immediate action into the matter.

Ostracised and tortured in Pakistan, several Hindu families who live through hell and forced to undergo conversion entered India through Wagah border on Monday.

A 19-year-old Hindu girl, Rinkie Kumari, was recently abducted in Pakistan and forcibly converted to Islam. The Hindu families’ exodus began recently, triggered by abduction of a 14-year-old girl. The victims who crossed over to India narrated their harrowing stories to Headlines Today showing yet again that in intolerant Pakistan they were just second class citizens.

With neither their life, nor their properties safe in the neighbouring country, Pakistani Hindus have been fleeing for their life. Their heart-rending tales have now turned into a chorus.

However, the government does not seem to show any urgency in taking any step to rush to their aid. Officially, the government states that the Pakistani Hindus arriving in India have been coming on pilgrimage.

Minister of State for External Affairs Perneet Kaur said, “We know they are here for a pilgrimage. According to an agreement between the two countries in 1972, we had decided not to interfere in the internal matters of each other. But this is a grave matter and we have already lodged a strong protest.”

Despite talks of torture on these families in Pakistan, Kaur said that nobody had sought asylum in India as of now. She also denied Pakistan’s allegation that too many visas were issued, saying “we have issued visas in accordance with our agreement. Let me state that clearly.”

The government’s blinkered approach to the plight of Pakistani Hindus gave the Opposition a chance to unite over the issue.

BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said, “In Pakistan, Hindu girls are being forcibly converted. They are being raped. People are being persecuted. We will take up this matter forcefully. We need to register a strong protest. Only a verbal assurance by government of taking up the matter with Pakistan is not enough. The government has failed on this front. The Pakistan government has also failed in protecting the human rights of Hindus there. If they don’t come to India, if they are being persecuted, where else will they go?”

Pakistan, on the other hand, refuses to acknowledge that there is an anti-Hindu campaign. Instead, it cried conspiracy. However, the testimonies of the families which have suffered prove Islamabad’s claims wrong.

Sufferers narrate their tales

Mukesh Kumar Ahuja and his wife Suman arrived in Attari with their four children looking for political asylum and hoping that they could become Indian nationals. They hoped that they would not have to return to Pakistan ever and have moved accordingly. For this also they had to pay a bribe of Rs.15,000 to Pak rail authorities.

Ahuja, a provisions shop owner, closed his shop in Balochistan about a year ago. He said safety of his family was his top priority. His cousin Ravi’s killing in Quetta region in October 2011 was the last straw. Gunmen had demanded Rs.1 crore, which the Ahujas failed to meet and Ravi was killed.

Yet another Pakistani Hindu, Pawan Kumar, said, “Women are not safe there. Pakistani authorities have taken an undertaking from us that we should return, but we don’t want to.”

These minority people said that there were thousands of other families in Pakistan who wanted to flee the country. However, their voices have been silenced by fear. Only those who can afford or who take a risk, take that big chance of moving to India. Most of those who come to India come as pilgrims.